Mating Ritual of Chefs and Samurai
by icedragongurl
Summary: The crew is forced to stop at Virgil Island, thanks to Luffy devouring all the supplies. While there they encounter Elysia Hades, granddaughter of the retired infamous pirate captain Samael Hades. When a tragedy strikes the Hades family the Straw Hat crew cannot turn their backs without helping. Zoro/Sanji


**Mating Rituals of Chefs and Samurai**

**Icedragongurl**

**I don't own One Piece. If I did… you can bet that Ace would be… yeah… *long forlorn depressed sigh* Let's leave it at that…**

**Zoro/Sanji**

**Chapter 1 out of 13**

**There will be lemons eventually… but I prefer to build up to it rather than jump right in at the very beginning. Sorry… I've never been that kinda gal. Also, there will be my own OC, but she's not going to be paired with anyone. Not in this fic at least. Though I am working on a separate one with her and Ace, I'm may or may not refer to it here. Odds are that I won't. Give her a chance by the way, I promise you that you won't be disappointed.**

**ENJOY!**

"Damn it! If I find out which of you shitheads told Luffy where I hid the spare key to the lock on the fridge, I will kick the culprit so hard they won't be able to crap for a MONTH!" Sanji ranted furiously. So far all of the straw hats were denying having any involvement whatsoever. The only reason the cook wasn't inflicting punishment upon his captain, was because Nami had already taken over that job.

Luffy smiled nervously at his navigator, who looked like she was seriously contemplating shoving him overboard.

"We'll just stop at the next island to buy more food..." Sanji was now distracted, Frankie was showing him a design for a new type of lock. It was one that used letters instead of a key. Ussop shook his head as Nami gave her captain a lethal glare,

"I have to check the maps, I don't know if we're anywhere near an island." With that she wandered off towards her cabin. Zoro watched the drama silently, taking next to no entertainment from the whole incident. Anyone with half a brain knew that if there was any sort of secondary way for Luffy to sneak into the kitchens supplies… the idiot would figure it out.

He let out a sigh of irritation, and it somehow caught the chef's attention. Sanji directed an angry glare at the swordsman, before crossing the ship until he stood looming over Zoro. Blocking the suns warm rays, the samurai scowled in response, before speaking with annoyance lacing each of his words,

"You're blocking the sun Crap Cook." The blonde brow twitched, signaling that he'd hit a nerve. Now this was a more satisfying form of entertainment, pissing off the blonde was always an enjoyable pastime. It was better than watching him go all 'Mellorine!' on the girls. Luckily, the samurai managed to raise his forearm to block the rather forceful kick that'd been directed at his head.

"Too fucking bad! Where the fuck were you during night watch? If you'd been awake, AS YOU SHOULD HAVE BEEN, then you would have heard the pig scarfing down all of our rations!" Sanji snarled venomously, to which Zoro only scoffed and looked off to the horizon, as though there was something interesting to capture his attention.

"You always yell whenever I go into the kitchen without your permission. Figured it would be smarter to avoid it no matter what weird ass noises I might be hearing." There was another pronounced spasm in the blonde curly brow… success.

"SO YOU HEARD HIM AND DIDN'T DO ANYTHING!" the chef bellowed, a single hand caught the samurai's collar. Yanking the first mates' face to his, giving an utterly hateful glare to the green haired man. Zoro had to fight the urge to smirk,

"You told me not to go into the kitchen. What else was I supposed to do? Make up your damn mind crap cook! Not go near the kitchen…or go near it? Well?" Before Sanji had a chance to retort, Nami returned to the deck.

"You're one hell of a lucky idiot Luffy. Turns out we're not too far from Virgil Isle. We can stop there to restock." Their captain only laughed in his carefree way, while the navigator and chef scowled at him in frustration.

Upon arrival, Robin gave them some basic information she knew about this island. It wasn't a tourist hotspot or anything like that, though the land mass itself was larger in size. There was one major key city known as Sirius City, as well as a smaller one known as Cerberus City. Then there were a few small towns and villages in the surrounding area. Neither Marines nor pirates held claim upon the land, leaving it as a safe location with a slim chance of being attacked or arrested. There were only two popular well known landmarks on Virgil Isle, the first was a section of the city called 'The Underworld' by all inhabitants. The second was a vast and colorful market place, offering a variety of selections in all different types of items. Be it food, clothing, weapons, tools, spices, or even information.

Among the native islanders, there was also Dark Athens Shrine, Mephisto Port, and Olympius Falls. The three locations were popular among those that had been on the island for many long years. The shrine supposedly was a religious center, where those of all different faiths converged to pray to which ever deity they chose. Surrounding the vast shrine was a small village where only the priests and priestesses dwelled. They were guardians of the history of the land, since it was the origin of the entire islands foundations.

Secondly was the port, which was largely used for importing and exporting only. It was not a very widely known stop for traders, but those who knew of it were loyal visitors. Lining the port was a vast market, with an array of different sea food, not to mention spices from all over the seas. Then lastly, the falls which was a natural wonder. Seven individual waterfalls all meeting to fall into the same lake, pure clear and clean water. The focal point of summer festivals, the people enjoy bathing and spending particularly hot days by the lakeshore.

As the straw hats crew wandered towards the general direction of the market place, they discussed what they'd end up buying. Luffy was distracted by the hunt for food, not interested in what his nakama were talking about. Even so… he was the first to notice something that was rather out of place. He cocked his head to the right, a confused frown on his face. The captain stared at what was a good distance away from them, trying to figure out if he was right. When a sudden flash of action confirmed his suspicions, the rubber man grinned from ear to ear before yelling out to his crew,

"Hey, that lady has a fox tail!" The straw hats paused in whatever they'd been doing. Robin paused in telling Frankie more about the sort of things he would possibly be able to find in the market to build with. Ussop had been telling poor Chopper another one of his tall tales, but both fell silent, staring at their captain in bewilderment. Sanji ceased during mid-kick, which had been intended for the grating Marimo head, before looking at what Luffy had caught sight of. From the distance, he squinted his eye, the cook could understand the confusion… but it simply wasn't all that possible. Well, after that Lucci fella….maybe it was. Sanji pulled out his pack of smokes, before putting a fresh cigarette in his mouth, and lighting it.

After taking a moment to exhale, he spoke at last his voice betraying his impatience,

"It's rude to point, Luffy, besides, it's probably just the distance making our eyes play tricks on us. After all, how often do you see someone with a tail?" Ussop opened his mouth with the intention to recall a few specific individuals they'd encountered over their travels with such abilities. A single piercing glance from the blonde chef silenced the sharpshooter. Zoro couldn't help but chuckle, leave it to the crap cook to get all irritated over absolutely nothing. Sanji directed his anger over to the swordsman, he stalked over with a dangerous look in his blue eye.

"Got something you wanna say you shit samurai?" He snarled viciously, the only response the cook got, was the raising of a single green brow in amusement. But before anything could be said any further, the tension was destroyed when Luffy promptly bellowed loudly,

"HEY FOX LADY!" Sanji's eyebrow twitched, and he smacked his captain upside the head. Honestly, it's almost as if Luffy was raised by a bunch of mountain bandits or something! No manners whatsoever! The swordsman had been inadvertently saved by the stupidity of their captain. But that didn't mean Sanji wasn't going to torture the other man later.

The crews' reaction was an almost simultaneous sigh of exasperation as they watched the rubber man sprint off. They could only assume he was following the mystery woman, not caring about whether or not it was a trap. Zoro couldn't help but curse loudly at the idiocy of his leader sometimes. Instincts kicked in as he dashed through the crowd, following Luffy's lead. Nami's eyes went wide as she tried to call out to the foolhardy boy and the samurai, but it was too late. They were out of hearing range, as they disappeared down an alley. The navigator's brown eyes narrowed into angry little slits… and when she finally spoke, sarcasm oozed off of every sharp word,

"What worse than one idiot running around in a strange city? … Another idiot with no sense of direction whatsoever following!" Robin chuckled softly, while Ussop, Chopper, and Frankie could only shake their heads and sigh. Realizing he would have to be the responsible one, yet again, Sanji put out his cigarette with his foot before muttering about crap swordsmen that couldn't find their way out of a paper bag! With that he gave the two female crew members an overly enthusiastic farewell. With that the chef hurried after the two morons, one whom was going on a wild fox chase, the other of which had good intentions but no internal compass.

"Guess I get to be the fucking babysitter once again" He growled under his breath to no one in particular.

Nami watched the cook vanish as well, and rubbed at her now throbbing temple, Robin placed a reassuring hand on the younger woman's shoulder.

"I'm sure they'll be fine. Cook-san will help them find their way back, in the meantime we should gather up our supplies. That way we'll be prepared once they've completed their little detour." Leave it to the archeologist to be the rational one amongst the group of mostly beef-heads. The orange haired female nodded, before warily glancing back at the alleyway where the three had disappeared into. She had a really bad feeling, but there wasn't much they could do. Their only possible option, was to find Sirius City's main marketplace. Thankfully she had a good sense of directions… unlike a certain algae haired idiot swordsman.

"HEY MISS FOX! WAIT UP!" It wasn't possible for her not to have heard Luffy's ridiculously boisterous calls for her to stop. It wasn't until they were further into what looked like a… more dangerous part of town, when Zoro realized that the illusive woman, was chasing after someone herself. The weird part, was that whoever it was…had to be wearing a Marine uniform!

Maybe this wasn't such a good idea after all… He glanced over at the blonde, who also had a scowl firmly set onto his face as well. Clearly, the pervy cook had also caught a glimpse of the woman's target. His gaze lingered a split second longer then it ordinarily would, before the samurai returned his attention to the chase.

They took a sharp right, and the pirates followed in determination, well at least one of them was determined… the other two were just tagging along to make sure their captain didn't get into anything stupid. Which they all knew he had a tendency to do, without even exerting any effort in the slightest.

The blonde male froze at the sight before them when they turned the blind corner. It was a dead end, there was a wimpy looking marine with a bruised eye pressing his back against the brick wall desperately. His one good eye, wide and fearful of the woman standing before him.

Sure enough, there was a young lady, most likely just barely older than them, a bushy crimson fox tail twitched angrily back and forth like a pissed off snake. A pair of dark red, black, and white ears sat on the top of her platinum blonde, red-tipped hair. They were tilted down like how cats would be if you pet it the wrong way. They could only see her back, and from her tense posture, she was positively livid. Stalking forward, the young marine whimpered and tried to back away further, but failed horribly. Sanji was surprised that Luffy hadn't piped up yet, the three of them just stood and watched in tense curiosity.

Before the guy could dodge, a single agile clawed hand slammed into his throat, pinning him brutally to the brickwork behind him. There was an audible sound of his skull harshly cracking against the stones, he let out a yelp of pain. This was cut short by her voice, in a lethal low tone she snarled into the young Marines face,

"What's the ONE rule of the Underworld?" There was a long silence which was only broken by pitiful whimpering. When he didn't answer, one of her claws dug into the flesh of his neck. Breaking the skin and allowing a single trail of blood to flow freely. Zoro went to move forward, but was stopped by Luffy. The captain shook his head silently, telling them both to wait… it was clear that there was something bigger at play.

When there was no reply she hissed again, but this time her voice held an intent that was lethal. A silent death threat if the fool did not finally answer.

"What's the ONE rule, Marine?" It was clear that she had no fear of attacking a government soldier, no matter how insignificant. Didn't she realize that it was dangerous to pull a stunt like this? The World Government had been known to lash out at entire islands for lesser slights. When the fellow finally answered, the three guys were completely thrown for a loop.

"D-Don't ap-approach any-any pi-pirates wi-with ill in-intent…" his voice trailed off weakly. The poor guy was stumbling over his own tongue, whoever this chick was… she was intimidating. Zoro was surprised when the single claw was removed from the wound, her tension lessened slightly, though her voice was still filled with rage and disgust.

"Exactly! You do NOT arrest them. You do NOT fight them. You do NOT insult them. Most importantly, you do NOT…EVER draw their BLOOD! Do you understand, you pathetic waste of flesh? In return the pirates must respect the same rules in regards to YOUR presence within the Underworld! It's a two fucking way road!" Her free hand slammed into the wall, only inches away from his face. The marine flinched and the poor fellow was shaking in terror, and she snarled right into his face.

"DON'T EVER DRAW BLOOD IN MY HOME AGAIN! Am I clear? Does your pea-sized brain compute what I'm telling you? Next time you think you'll show your Marine buddies just how big a pair you've got…by picking a 'knife fight' with an unsuspecting pirate… I'll literally show your buddies how tiny your set is… by removing them, myself. Understood?" That single eye widened drastically, and he feebly attempted to nod his head around her hand pinning his neck.

There was a very long pause, and finally she let go of the marines' throat. He slid to his ass, before passing out completely right there in that little side alley. From her facial expression alone, Sanji had half expected her to spit on the body. He was quite impressed that the woman hadn't. One of the red ears twitched a final time in irritation, before all fox like traits vanished completely. Now, Luffy's eyes had widened in amazement, and finally their presence was made known.

"You're a devil fruit user too!" He exclaimed with excitement, and the poor woman nearly jumped out her skin. Whirling about on her heels, brilliant dark green eyes took in the three pirates which stood before her. Luffy grinned at the woman, and she stared at him in stunned silence. Sanji scowled before smacking his naïve captain upside the head once more. The rubber man pouted at the chef,

"What was that for Sanji!" He whined, but before the chef could respond, the fox woman gave them suspicious once-overs. Once she'd decided they weren't threatening, she brushed off her dark red trench coat from any dirt that may have lingered. Then she gave them a skeptical little smirk,

"You three look new. I'm guessing you've never been to Sirius City before. Am I right?" Luffy nodded fervently, Zoro kept his guard up. It wasn't normal for someone to shift from murderous intent, to friendly small talk so easily. Sanji immediately went into his playboy flirtations, which made the swordsman frown even deeper. He quite honestly hated when the chef got all high pitched, lovey-dovey, heart eyed. It was a royal pain in the fucking ass. He never fully understood the cooks' fascination with ladies, to a tiny degree of course he did, but in the long run… Zoro considered all women to have their own personal agendas.

"You are completely correct, my vulpine goddess! We are but ignorant fools with need of your beautiful guidance!" Instead of swooning, or giving him a death glare… she arched a single elegant blonde brow in a look that could be universally translated as 'You're kidding…right'? Ignoring the blonde cook, she offered Luffy her hand to shake with a welcoming smile. He didn't even pause to accept it, and it brought a small sparkle to her forest green orbs.

"The name's Elysia Hades. The inhabitants of the Underworld commonly call me Mistress Hades, or Lady Persephone. You can feel free to call me anything you wish…" She paused, before looking over at Sanji with a vaguely annoyed look.

"Other… then 'Vulpine Goddess'." Zoro smirked, maybe she wasn't so bad after all. Exceptions to rules always existed, perhaps she had no personal agenda after all. Unfortunately, the crap cook wasn't dissuaded though, he continued with the ridiculous worshipping. The was the one thing he had to give the blonde credit for, Sanji just wouldn't take no for an answer. Thankfully, she ignored his attentions after that, focusing upon Luffy with a rather professional attitude.

"Are you three the only ones here? I would have imagined that you'd have a bigger crew by this point. Unless You're all multi-talented." Sanji scoffed and gave Zoro an irritated look, to which the swordsmen returned with an equally nasty expression of his own. This intrigued the blonde woman greatly, but she kept her thoughts to herself. Taking note that the anger the green haired gentleman was giving off, was mild and withheld in regards to his companions fiery temper. When flames collide, there is nothing but a wave of fire that devours all in its path. These two were clashing, and it was as apparent as night and day.

"We got separated from our nakama, when Luffy here decided that chasing the fox would be more fun. The only task Zoro, AKA Marimo, here could handle is sleeping, eating, or fighting. Asking him to do any two things at the same time… would be as difficult as having him find the kitchen from his own bedroom." Luffy chuckled as the two started their little verbal sparring, which always escalated into physical violence. Zoro gave the cook a death glare that would have sent many a lesser man scrambling for their lives.

"At least I don't go around flirting with anything that wears a skirt. I bet a pretty boy in a kilt would turn you on, crap cook." His words were laced with a bit more venom than normal. If the cook ever actually did that, Zoro would be forced to kill the pretty boy that was wearing the kilt to begin with. It was a two way road, you can't choose one and say no to another. The samurai bit his tongue from including anything more that he would most certainly regret. Sanji noticed the abnormal severity to the swordsman's' words but kept it to himself. The curly blonde brow narrowed as his eye flashed dangerously in response.

"Says the guy who's probably asexual! Shit Samurai!" Lightning sparked as the two stared each other down viciously, and as they did so…Elysia Hades was grinning internally. Oh she was fairly certain that the green haired fellow was far from being even remotely asexual. If the fact that he'd constantly glance at the cook, when he thought no one was noticing, wasn't a dead giveaway. The two fellows were so blind to what was going on between them. Sometimes Elysia was certain that men could be the stupidest of the human species, especially when it came to anything in the department of relationships or true attraction.

Luffy laughed in amusement as the two bickered like an old married couple. She smirked at the captain as she stood beside him with her arms crossed in front of her,

"Do they do this often?" Her curiosity was overwhelming, he smiled widely at her before nodding with perhaps a bit more enthusiasm than most ordinary people would use. Though she was getting the vibe that this trio was anything but normal. Not that she was complaining in the slightest.

"Yup! All the time! Shishishi!" Elysia stored that away into her mental filing cabinet. It had been awhile since she'd amused herself with her favorite hobby. Perhaps the two pirates would be a great challenge to pick her old interest back up again. The last time she'd bothered with anyone… was nearly a half a year earlier with one of her cousins.

"Where are your other crewmates supposed to be?" She asked with innocent curiosity. It would be best for her to help them meet up, otherwise they could spend days wandering the Underworld. Every new person did, it was impossible to get the hang of the underbelly of Sirius City that quickly. Sanji and Zoro stopped mid-tussle and looked over at her. She smiled before eyeing the, now groaning, Marine that was lying on the ground. It was Sanji that responded this time,

"We came for supplies, we'll probably find them at the market." Without saying a single word, she started walking down an alley to the left, pausing only for a moment to gesture for them to follow after her. The samurai glanced over at the chef, Sanji shrugged, so long as they got back to Nami-chan and Robin-san he didn't care how they got there.

"There's only one main market. It's not too far from here. I'll take you there. And, if you'd like, after you've finished your shopping… free drinks at my place." As they trailed behind her, Sanji gave her a look of intrigue, which she smirked back in response.

"You have a place?" He asked questioningly. Elysia smiled at him before chuckling,

"It's called Purgatories Lullaby, and it can found in the heart of the Underworld. Since I'm the guardian of the territory I have to be in the center of it all." The three pirates were impressed, she had to be extremely strong to pull that off. As they all walked at the same easy pace, taking a casual stroll through what appeared to be the sketchier part of the so called 'Underworld'. Recalling what she'd been telling the Marine, Sanji put a fresh cigarette in his mouth before lighting it. After taking a drag and then exhaling, he spoke up,

"What exactly is this Underworld you keep mentioning Elle-chan?" She gave him a sharp look at the familiarity with which he spoke, but when she opened her mouth to request him to drop the 'chan', the green haired man behind him met her eyes and shook his head. Silently telling her that there was no use, the cook would keep up the flirtatious behavior no matter what she did or said. The blonde woman sighed in exasperation, something told her she was probably going to have a headache by the end of this little interaction. With a slightly impatient tone of voice she spoke,

"You seriously have no clue where you are?" The three men shook their head in unison, and she let out another long sigh of frustration. Men really could be obscenely ignorant at times, she could only hope that if there were any females in their group, that they were smart women. Elysia kept moving forward the way she was guiding them,

"Alright, I'll try to give you a simple explanation. In Sirius City, there's a piece of land called the 'Underworld'. It's a chunk of territory that is guarded by my family for three generations. My grandfather was the first to create the rules of this section of the city. It's very simple. Pirates can't pick fights with Marines, and vice versa. This is a no man's land, World Government is nothing and has no standing on the rules of this place. Therefore, the pirates have a safe place to chill out and never have to worry about being ambushed by the Marines. No blood is allowed to be spilt on this land, ever. This was why I was putting the fear of the fucking Hades family into that rookie back there."

Luffy wasn't really paying attention, what she was talking about was simply too confusing. So he put the Underworld in the category of everything else that confused him... it was a mystery. Meanwhile Zoro watched her skeptically, it wasn't possible to pull off such a thing. The Government would flip their shit before letting pirates have a safe haven. The blonde fox caught on to his doubts, she smirked confidently back,

"You'd be surprised how many pirates have marine relatives, or the other way around. If they were to encounter each other outside of this area, they'd have to battle no matter what… all due to bullshit principles. Here, there's no fear of judgment or rules controlling their actions. Siblings can be family once again, grandparents can hug their grandchildren. That's why those corrupt wolves don't intervene, it all comes down to morale. The higher it is, the easier it is to manipulate their drones." They emerged from the shadows of the back alleys, into the brilliant sunlight. They were met with a cacophony of sound, and vibrant colors, this was the magnificent Sirius City marketplace.

The chef stared in amazement, the cigarette dangling dangerously from his lips. Luffy grinned even wider, and yelled out demands for meaty goodness. Zoro whistled softly in approval, this most certainly was impressive. The road seemed almost unending, completely engulfed with peddlers baring merchandise. They were not surprised to spot Nami bartering away with a man who dealt with, what appeared to be gold to Belli exchange. Leave it to the money grubber to argue away to the very last cent she could squeeze out of the poor gentleman.

They watch her finally grin like a satisfied kitten after a bowl full of cream, before gathering her funds and returning to the waiting group. Luffy called out loudly to his nakama, and to no surprise… they managed to hear him over all the hustle and bustle taking place around them. Elysia watched silently, throughout the entire exchange, watching from a few feet away.

"Luffy! What the hell were you thinking running away like that! You _IDIOT!_" Nami hit him on the back of the head, really hard. He only laughed in response, rubbing his index finger against his nose. The navigator huffed in irritation, it was a miracle the moron was still alive! The way he ran head first into dangerous situations, she closed her eyes and sighed in defeat. It wasn't like she could do anything to stop him. As he turned his attention to excitedly talking to Ussop and Chopper about something stupid no doubt, she muttered softly to herself,

"Stop making me worry so much…idiot." Robin gave the younger woman a small smile, before placing a reassuring hand onto the orange haired girls shoulder. Sanji interrupted with the hearts in his visible eye,

"Forgive me for deserting you two lovely ladies! I hope no fools tried to cause you any trouble while I was away?" Robin shook her head in a placating manner, before answering in her calm voice,

"We were fine Chef-san. We're big girls, we can take care of ourselves." This didn't throw him off of his game,

"Of course! You're both beautifully independent! It's those barbaric apes that I don't trust! Forgive me if it sounded like I suggested you were both weak! I meant no such thing!" Zoro scowled deeply, good god did he hate it when the blonde did that. Agreeing with anything Robin and the Sea Witch said, like some sort of pathetic man slave. Hell they could sell him out to gorgeous woman as a male escort. Not like the dumbass chef would complain. A scoff of resentment escaped him, and a single ear twitched on the blonde man.

The algae haired man barely had the chance to avoid the foot that was swung at him. Nami rolled her eyes, before switching her attention to calculating how to divide their money accordingly. Zoro snarled viciously,

"What the fuck was that for you shitty cook!" Sanji remained in a crane position, ready to strike out again. He exhaled a ring of smoke, before pointing his cigarette at the samurai,

"How dare you belittle my apologies to Nami-chan and Robin-swan!" The rest of the straw hats completely ignored the small tussle that was going on. Sharp words were thrown back and forth like blades clashing with sparks flying in all directions. Elysia watched the interactions with amusement playing on her facial features. Finally, the battle ended with a single statement that made the blonde girl nearly grin.

"You're just jealous that I'm giving Robin and Nami all this attention and they enjoy every minute of it!" Zoro used more force than he ordinarily did to shove back the foot that had come at his face. The strength he'd used to push the strike away made the chef lose his balance. Sanji was tossed backwards, landing ungracefully onto his ass, this time all eyes were on the two. The cook seemed a bit taken-aback, while the swordsman was positively livid but trying to hold it in check.

"Fuck this!" his words were acidic as Zoro threw his hand up in a dismissive gesture. Turning on his heels, he started to leave. Nami called out nervously,

"Where are you going now?" The look that she got was a good reminder of why he was constantly compared to a demon. He snapped impatiently,

"To the damn ship before I slit that pathetic excuse of a man's' throat!" Elysia arched a single blonde brow in fascination.

At least one of the two were semi-intelligent, otherwise they'd both be throwing fists, figuratively, without realizing all the tension was latent sexual compatibility. Thankfully, it'd only make her job a whole lot easier, now if only the seemingly half-blind chef would catch on. Besides, the way that Sanji was desperately waiting on the orange haired girl, all while she was subtly fascinated by the black haired captain…was almost sickening. If she didn't intervene soon, the straw hat pirates would explode from the unacknowledged sexual frustrations….at least the younger ones most certainly would.

Robin was the first to notice the stranger, and before the samurai could get away she called out in curiosity.

"Who's your new friend, swordsman-san?" Zoro paused, before his eyes flicked over to Elysia, who gave him a look of utter amusement. He growled low in his throat, really not wanting to have to stay anywhere near the self-centered bastard! The green eyes sparkled brightly, she knew full well that he would stay. The green haired man swore under his breath before accepting the fact that as much as he hated it, he wasn't getting away any time soon.

The fox only smiled welcomingly before introducing herself once again. They all stared at her for a moment, then dragged Luffy into a small group huddle a short distance away. Not that it would have helped, being a fox type she had fantastic hearing, sometimes irritatingly so. They argued about staying at the island for too long, and how they really need to get a move on already. The captain whined, saying that he wanted to get her to join his crew.

To which his nakama all barked at him in frustration. Elysia could only chuckle, but she'd noticed the black haired woman, glancing at her with a curious shimmer in her eyes. It was clear that there was a question on the tip of her tongue, and all she had to do is wait for the pirate to finally ask it. To her delight, she didn't have to wait all that long, thankfully. The female known as Robin stood, her interest betrayed within intelligent eyes,

"You said your last name is… Hades… You wouldn't happen to be related… to Samael Hades, would you?" Green eyes blinked at the older woman in surprise, which was certainly not the type of question she'd been expecting, but okay. Elysia slipped her hands into her pockets, before giving her a look of disinterest,

"Yeah. He's my grandfather." There were a few 'Ahhh' coming from the straw hats, promptly followed by a bellow of,

"HE'S YOU GRANDFATHER!" one hand escaped her pocket, to rub at her now throbbing temple. She'd become accustomed to such a reaction, Samael Hades was a well-known pirate among the history of the seas. Powerful and terrifying, even without a devil fruit. Choosing to give up the ways of the pirate, yet never having killed anyone during his travels, he was excused of his deeds. Building a large family, and abandoning the traveling lifestyle of a pirate, yet still his legend lived on among the tales told. Now her gramps wasn't anything short from a family man. Taking care of his children, grandchildren, and great grandchildren as well. He'd started young with his wife, and they'd had many long years to raise a good home.

Elysia had rarely ever seen her grandfather as the captain he'd once been feared as. Though he was overly welcoming to all pirates, treating them all like long lost nakama. Some were put off by it entirely, others had a great amount of respect. It all depended on what their stand was on his deserting the sea. He'd made the right choice no matter what anyone said. The only irritation was that Grandpa Sam was certain she'd make the perfect pirate. If she didn't have a debilitating fear of deep water. Not just any base of liquid, but the ocean, or the deep end of a pool. That was thanks to her accidentally eating the Inu-Inu fruit fox-type when she'd been seven. Then she had promptly attempted to go swimming afterwards. When her grandfather had not only saved her from drowning, but also discovered she'd eaten the devil fruit someone had delivered as a gift, he'd only laughed. This fueled his belief that if she only got over her damned fears, she'd make one hell of a kick ass pirate.

Even if he did quit the seas, that didn't change who her grandpa was. He still kept in touch with his old crew, hell some lived on the island still. He bragged if any of his offspring, both children and grandchildren, went off to be a pirate. The old ship sat in Mephisto Port, though the old jolly roger flag was hung up in the main hall of the Hades estate. Old man Sam always opened up his arms in welcome to strange pirates, it was hard to hate someone as warm and friendly as him. Even with old age, he didn't hesitate to lend a hand in the city. If it ever looked like marines or pirates were pushing it in terms of the rules… he would physically put a stop to it. Elysia had always found it impressive… unfortunately the only real down-side was…

"You're old man sounds like an amazing guy!" Luffy exclaimed loudly, childish wonder shone in his eyes. Nami scowled at her captain, pinching his cheek in irritation. Quietly she hissed into his hair threateningly,

"I know exactly what you're thinking…No. We're just gathering supplies and leaving. That's ALL." Luffy pouted like a kid being told he couldn't go into the candy store.

"But Nammmiiii!" he whined, but the navigator cut him off angrily,

"Don't 'but Nami' me! No means no! Let's get our stuff and go!" Elysia nearly got whiplash at how quickly the orange haired girl went from snarling at her captain, to smiling kindly and saying,

"Thank you for bringing back our three idiots. God only knows how lost they would have gotten otherwise." The blonde woman only nodded, returning the smile with a small wave of her hand,

"No problem, it was a pleasure. Though, I did tell your friends that you are all invited to my bar for free drinks on the house." The rest of the crew stared at Nami, and the poor navigator could already feel her temple throbbing at the bitching that would incur, if she were to turn down the offer. One orange brow twitched in agitation, as Nami nodded in agreement, even though she had a very bad feeling that trouble was going to end up brewing.

"Fine. But we're heading out right after." Luffy grinned from ear to ear, and as the straw hats began to chat amongst themselves, Elysia couldn't help but smile at how amusing they were. Every so often, she could see that her grandfather wasn't so wrong about some pirates. If she wasn't so terrified of the water… she could see herself in a crew like theirs. Where everyone was more like family than crew mates, and they all got along as such. Sadly, the sea was not the place for her. Never would be. As beautiful as it was, and as much as she would have killed to see what lay beyond the boundaries of her island… some things were simply not meant to be.

TBC


End file.
